X23: Mirror
by Ladylovey
Summary: X-23 contenplates herself, set after she's joined the X-Mansion. One-shot.


**If there are any BETas out there who can see any mistakes, or anywhere, where it could be improved, please give me a shout! :D Also, there is an abundant shortage of X-23 fics! Also X-23 and Logan Father/Daughter bonding fics! I think that needs to be rectified. ;0)**

* * *

** Mirror**

She realised that never before had she actually looked at herself in the mirror. Not properly, not clearly. She only ever saw glimpses of her herself in reflections. In the rivers she splashed in, while running, in lakes while washing her face. In HYDRA there were never any mirrors, not least in her room. No need for her to get distracted, there was no need for a_ weapon_ to be distracted. Mirrors were not part of her training.

She remembers it well, it was a bright room, with white padded walls, a matching white vinyl floor, and one lone bed for her to sleep on.

Looking into the mirror in this bathroom, in _her_ own bathroom, in this room of the Xavier mansion, was weird. There were no cameras, at least that she knew of. She could always sense the cameras, constantly looking at her, observing her, like she was a pet in a zoo, or some kind of science project to be monitored. But that's what exactly what she was, a science project; But she guessed HYDRA didn't account for this 'science project' getting away.

She was a liability, and they knew it. If they ever found out she was aliv- No! she mustn't think about things like that, Logan said not to " Don't bog yourself down with that, kid". He's say " No one's gonna get you while I'm here. And trust me, I'm gonna be around for a long, long time." That made her contemplate.

He tried his best to make her feel as welcome as possible to the house. Things were shaky at first, especially once people found out who she was. The stealthly assassin who knocked them down, without breaking a sweat. (She had learned that slang from Logan, she was learning a lot from him.) She would have to train them, she thought "They are _far_ too weak". It fell strange to her to be concerned for anyone like that, let a loan a bunch of people. It startled her that she began to care.

She leaned closer to the mirror, and saw a girl with tan skin, and dark mahogany hair. "I must not be a perfect clone" she muttered to herself, while pulling a large chunk of hair towards the bathroom light. She used her index finger to pull down one of her eyelids. "My eyes are green, Logan's are blue" She knew who she inherited her green eyes from. "Dr. Sarah Kinney" after a few seconds of reflection she added . "My mother". She turned her face away from the mirror, and looked down towards the sink. She whispered. "Not my mother". She didn't want to think about her, she didn't need to, and why should she?

Mother's don't do _that_ to their children.

That had never wrung more true or hurt more deeply, then when the Xavier Institute had it's annual parents evening.

It was February 23th Logan had advised her not to go and see what "all the commotion was about", he said it was just for parents to check on their kids, and to see if they were keeping their grades up at school. "You don't need that, you've got a lot of smarts. Heh, you've probably already got the whole curriculum memorised in that there brain of yours".

He had said this proudly, like he was happy someone that accomplished, had came from him.

As all of the house's residence were in the main hall, he decided he wanted to get her as far away from the event as possible. Logan decided that they were going to have a little barbecue on the outside patio.

X-23 sat on one of the outside decking chairs, hands placed firmly on each arm rest. She could tell the chair was old, as it began to warp and crack off into splintered fragments. She was interested in the feeling of this texture beneath her fingertips, so she began to rub. Everything in the facility was so smooth and streamlined, the only time she ever fell something rough, was when she escaped into the forest. It reminded her of freedom.

"X", this was what he would call her (He would say she needed to pick out a name. A real name, she couldn't go around as a code for the rest of her life, and that she should pick one, she just replied that she didn't know which one to choose.) Logan asked her whether she wanted a burger or hot dog.

"Hot dog" she replied. Hot dogs were very fast becoming her favourite food. She had never tried anything quite like it, she was never allowed to eat anything processed.

She first tried it when the seasonal carnival came to the town, about roughly 2/3 of the house were going, and she was curious, so Logan decided to take her. After they road on a Ferris wheel, they came by a concession stand. "Hmm, can you smell that, X?" X-23 figured this was a rhetorical question, as it was obvious as to where the source of the smell was coming from.

Logan tilted his face up towards the scent "Ahh, the smell of freshly cooked meat". He decided to order himself some food. "One burger, please. Double cheese, barbecue sauce and hold the onions. Thanks". He returned his face to X-23 and shrugged "Onions give me gas" while applying pressure to his breast bone. As he was about to take his order and leave, he saw X eye one of the cooking hot dogs "and one hot dog for X-" He corrected himself "My daughter, please." Her eyes widened, but she didn't say anything. "Any condiments?" Logan asked her. "I'd like the same as you."

As they were walking away he asked her if there was any reason why she ordered the same "barbecue sauce and no onions combo".

"I'm your clone, we probably like and have the same bodily reactions to the same food substances." She stated quite clearly. Logan interjected saying " Not necessarily. We _are_ two different people".

* * *

Logan had driven her back to the institute on his motorcycle, then parked it in their garage. She got off and placed the silver helmet on a cardboard box that was lying around. (She gathered it was Scott's, as he was the only person she had seen in the garage except Logan) While in the drive way she had asked him why he referred to her as his daughter. "X, Let you ask something." She looked at him with a paused expression as he spoke. "You have my DNA, yes?"

"Yes, I'm your clone. I was manufactured from your DNA, in hopes to be the next Weapon X.

" Then you are my daughter"

"But, I'm a Clo-" He held his hand out as if to stop her talking.

"You're my daughter. You have my DNA. Therefore you are my offspring. So that makes you my Kid. I mean, heck! You are genetically the perfect daughter!"

X-23 hadn't thought of that before.

"Besides, a grown man hanging around with a teenager at a carnival, that's not his daughter? Kinda suspicious". Logan placed his chin in between his fingers as if to think.

"You could have said I was your sister".

"Well, I might not look it, but I am in my 200's" X-23 was shocked. It wasn't as if she didn't know, part of her training was to know everything about 'Weapon X'. She knew Logan was born in the 1800's, but she must have forgotten it. He certainly didn't look his age.

"You shocked?" asked Logan in amusement.

"No, It's just that you only look as though you are approximately 37 years of age"

"Well, Darlin' that's what having a healing factor does to you." he continued "You can thank me for your internal good looks, later" He laughed.

X-23 looked confused.

"It's a joke, you're meant to laugh."

"Oh. ha. ha. ha?" she said flatly, as if mildly rehearsed.

He chuckled "Your not meant to force it, Kid." _"Damn, I've got so much to teach you"_ he thought.

After a moment he said " Back to the matter at hand. The word daughter is more age appropriate. I mean you're what? 13? 16?"

"14 years, 3 months, and 24 ½ days old." She paused "and counting".

"Exactly" he said has he pointed a finger to the air. "Come on we better get inside the mansion before Chuck wonders where we are".

As they were walking in unison to the door that lead into the house, Logan said. "Another reason I called you my daughter. If I carried on and said your name was X-23, the man at the stand would have though your parents were hippies or something!" He chuckled, and thought to himself "Me, a Hippie? HA!"

"I don't understand, what's a Hippie?"

Logan laughed "Never mind, Kid. I'll tell you some other time. Right now you've got to get ready for bed."

* * *

As his burger was sizzling Logan put X's hot dogs on, it was then while his back was turned, that she decided to sneak away to the main room of the mansion.

It was quite easy to get there, of course, it's in the front rooms of the mansion right by the entrance. As she approached the rooms, she could hear the amalgam sound of all their voices, she didn't want to intrude, so she just grasped the door frame with her left hand, and craned her neck around to see what everyone was doing.

She saw parents chatting to tutors, the looks on most faces were happy, but a few looked like what she would only call _disappointment_. Jamie was trying to impress everyone with his waiting skills, with that he can be all the waiters at once, he at times decided to 'pop-out' another one of his duplicates just to entertain the guests to a roarous shock, then applause. Jubilee and the other new mutants just sniggered and rolled their eyes. Without noticing someone behind him, he split himself in to two, while standing in front of Scott, bumping into him causing the white wine he was holding to spill all over him. The new mutants threw back their heads and laughed, while Jamie kept apologising to the peeved off Scott, that was being calmed down by Jean.

In the far right corner of the room was Rogue, back against the wall, leaning in front of her face was Gambit who although being part of Acolytes was now apart of the X-men, his left hand stuck to the wall as he was leaning into her face, saying with a wink "You look beautiful, Chere", she scrunched her nose and turned her face away, but smiled. X-23 wanting to see more of the room, let her left foot creep inside of the door entrance, where she saw all of the students with their parents and guardians, obviously happy to see one another. In the middle of the room on a mauve sofa was Kitty Pryde, right in the middle of her two parents, each with jovial expressions on their faces, she leaned her head on her father's shoulder and began to laugh at a joke he told, perhaps a family in-joke. X-23 expected for her to move, for them to tell her that she couldn't do that, that it wasn't allowed, an abrupt brush off, as in being told that this is forbidden.

Just like she had.

All of this had just reminded her of what she never had. It sprung up memories of the time when she was allowed to go into the park escorted (of course). A little girl had brought a music box with her, and the sweet song played in her ears, she studied the ballerina inside of it, it just kept on spinning and spinning and spinning. The whole thing, the girl being allowed to have this, beautiful sounds that she had never heard of before, the whole thing made her so angry, and she SMASHED IT!

She wasn't allowed out after that.

She opened eyes that she didn't realise were closed, all four hand claws were unleashed, and in a fit of infuriation she slashed the one side of the door. Everybody's feet in the room was turned to her, before she could see all of their eyes on her, she retracted her claws, whipped 'round, and headed straight for the Patio.

* * *

She didn't look at Logan as she ran straight for the wooden chair, knees huddled up to her face, she didn't want to speak to anyone, she just wanted to be left alone with her thoughts, she guessed too late though that this was the wrong place as Logan's foot steps were approaching her chair.

"Kid?"

"Go Away!" She screamed, mumbled my her knees.

"I know where you've been, kid." Logan started, kneeing down by the side of her and said softly "Your life is changing, it will get better."

She raised her face to look at him, red with emotion "I am a failure. I shouldn't be angry. Seeing people with their parents and guardians. I shouldn't have these emotions. These unneccessary feelings. This is not what I was bred for? Why does my face hurt?, she calmed down in a quieter voice to add "Why do my eyes sting...?"

"You're crying"

"Well, I shouldn't be"

"It's perfectly natural"

"Not for me, it's not."

He sighed and stood up. "Don't beat yourself up."

Bravely, he lifts her up, and before she can resist, he hugs her. She doesn't know what to make of it, and she's too shocked to protest, he doesn't let go though, tensing at first she gently lets her arms slip around his waist, and eases in to his embrace. Out of nowhere he has a tissue in his hand and he dabs her face with it.

"I'm your parent now, and it's 'bout time I made it official." he said as he pulled back slightly to look into her eyes, before kissing her on the forehead.

* * *

As X-23 had ran for the patio, she didn't notice Kitty had tip-toed after her and was now staring at them through the patio doors. When she saw Logan hug and Kiss X-23, she laid her right hand on her chest, took a deep breath and sighed a happy smile. While X-23's head laid on his chest, Logan turned around to see Kitty though the partially opened doors, he quietly shooed her away, understanding why, she left to return to her parents.

* * *

She kept on studying her face in the mirror, and decided to turn the tap on to splash her face with water, until she heard a knock at the door. She didn't answer, but dried her face on a near by white towel.

_KNOCK. KNOCK._

Came the sound of her bedroom door.

_KNOCK. KNOCK._

"I'm coming" she finally replied, taking one final deep breath, before traversing from her bathroom through to her bedroom.

_KNO-_

"I'm here!" At her door standing in his usual biker jacket was Logan. " Just checkin' to see if you're O.K."

"I'm fine" She said as his eyes turned to see that she had stray water droplets in her hair.

"I just washed my face." she said with a blank expression

"Hahaha, that's O.K. Just to here to say dinners ready." He turned around as if to leave, but then turned back to add...

"Come on we're having your favourite. Hot dogs."

They both smiled.

The End

* * *

Whoa! Did this take me long to write. Stopping and starting, no confidence so no motivation. :/ Also, thinking through this to be at times X-23 sounded more like her comic-book counterpart, than Evo!X-23, I hope she doesn't now, though. Still trying to write, but It's been a struggle. Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed this lil' One-shot. Peace. C:


End file.
